Amid Emergency Services Staffing Crisis, Congress Drags its Feet – Emergency medical responders are facing a crisis-level shortage of personnel and equipment to fight growing fires and disasters, exacerbated by the pandemic and climate change. This shortage is especially acute in rural or underserved communities, which are more vulnerable to heat waves, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes and floods. Two Democratic senators introduced a bill to bolster emergency services. What has come of this initiative? José López Zamorano reports from Washington, DC.
Congressman Returns from Retirement to Lead a Campaign to Naturalize 1 Million People – Former Chicago Congressman Luis Gutierrez has returned from retirement to launch a campaign he calls “Our Nation’s Future,” which seeks to naturalize one million new U.S. permanent residents within four years. According to Gutierrez, immigrants can make their impact felt in the elections in the absence of progress on immigration reform from Democrats and Republicans. Gutierrez discussed his plans with Chelis Lopez. Former Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Chicago spoke with Chelis Lopez. You can listen to the full interview in the archives of Línea Abierta for Tuesday, July 5 at radiobilingue.org.
Raul Yzaguirre Given Nation’s Highest Civilian Honor – President Biden has awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House to Raúl Yzaguirre for his decades of groundbreaking work for the cause of civil rights. Yzaguirre is best remembered for his 30 years at the helm of the National Council of La Raza, the nation’s largest Latino civil rights organization, which is now called UnidosUS. Ruben Tapia brings us this report.
